Thomas Burke
The First Amendment Coalition is delighted to announce the appointment of two new members of its Board of Directors: Thomas Burke, a prominent lawyer specializing in first amendment, intellectual property and media litigation; and Quentin Kopp, former Superior Court judge, State Senator and San Francisco Supervisor.
Quentin Kopp
Burke is a partner in the San Francisco office of Davis Wright Tremaine, a national law firm. His clients have included CNN, Amazon, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Los Angeles Times and Yelp. He has also represented FAC in various cases, including a federal FOIA suit for access to Justice Department memos on lethal drone strikes.
Kopp has has been a household name in the Northern California worlds of law and politics for more than 30 years, having served as a San Francisco supervisor beginning in the early 1970s and run for mayor in 1979 (unsuccessfully, against Dianne Feinstein). Kopp ran as an Independent in his election to the State Senate, winning narrowly in an overwhelmingly Democratic district. He was appointed to a judgeship (Superior Court, San Mateo County) by Governor Pete Wilson, a Republican.
Burke and Kopp were elected unanimously to FAC’s Board in September.–PS